MORNING SESSION
Grace Killelea, Grace Killelea Consulting
Grace Killelea passionately believes that everyone is the CEO of their own career and life. Through her unique story telling, one-on-one executive coaching, group workshops and keynote presentations, Grace has helped thousands in their leadership development, personal branding and professional development. Drawing from her 35 years of corporate experience with a focus on developing individual and team leadership, Grace inspires people to move beyond barriers to achieve sustainable success, both professionally and in their personal lives.
For nearly 13 years, Grace was a facilitator for the Betsy Magness Leadership Institute, the cable industry’s highest rated women’s leadership program. She serves on the Board of the Emma Bowen Foundation and is a member of the National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications and the National Speakers Association. She has provided leadership development and coaching for City Year since 2009, supporting the talent strategy of this association.
Grace has received numerous awards, including the Lucille Larkin Lifetime Achievement Award and the WICT Northern California Chapter’s Mentor of the Year Award. She was named a “Woman of Power” by Diversity Plus Magazine and in 2010 was named a “Wonder Woman” by Multichannel News, one of the highest recognitions in the cable industry.
Valerie Gordon, Founder of Commander-in-She, LLC
Valerie Gordon is a 10-time Emmy award-winning television producer with more than two decades of experience creating and overseeing feature stories for ESPN, HBO Sports, CBS News and other networks. Now the founder of Commander-in-She, a communications and career strategy firm, Valerie combines her background in storytelling with her passion for the important conversations and skills women need to harness the power in their stories. Commander-in-She offers presentations, group workshops, team-building and individual coaching on topics such as team conflict, personal branding and work/life balance. Through introspection, humor and classic storytelling techniques, participants learn to navigate plot twists, control their inner narrator and create satisfying and successful next chapters.
AFTERNOON SESSION
Amanda Anderson, Social Media Manager, ESPN
Amanda Anderson is a social media manager in ESPN’s digital department. She oversees day-to-day production of ESPN’s Snapchat Discover edition, which assembles ESPN’s top sports content each day with a focus on curating and delivering content to a 13-24 demographic of fans. The Snapchat team collaborates with ESPN’s social media team and sports editorial groups to create multiplatform content that ends up not only on ESPN’s Snapchat, but also on ESPN.com as well as on its other social platforms like Facebook and Instagram. She previously was an Associate Producer in television production on SportsCenter.
Monica Anderson, Business Analyst in Affiliate Sales & Marketing, ESPN
Monica Anderson joined ESPN in 2013 and currently works on the Affiliate Sales & Marketing Contract Strategy team as a Business Analyst. In this role, Monica supports the Disney & ESPN Media Networks products and services by providing contractual analysis and assessments in order to protect the company’s contractual posture.
Monica is a member of ESPN Women and ESPN Young Professionals (YP), two of the company’s internal Employee Resource Groups. Most recently she held the position of business committee co-lead for ESPN YP. In this role she helped organized a speaker series event to educate employees across the company on the evolving distribution landscape. Additionally she led a focus group to better understand how millennials at the company consume media content. Monica also appeared as a panelist for the ESPN Women and ESPN YP joint event – “Millenials: an Open Discussion.”
Monica holds a BA in Economics from Brown University. She currently resides in Middletown, CT with her boyfriend and new puppy.
Sandy Weicher, Vice President of Customer Care, Comcast
Sandy Weicher serves as Vice President of Customer Care for Comcast’s Western New England Region, which serves customers in more than 300 communities in Connecticut, western Massachusetts, western New Hampshire, Vermont and New York. In this role, Weicher is responsible for delivering a positive experience to Comcast’s customers across the region and oversees the operations of the company’s regional call centers located in Enfield, Connecticut and South Burlington, Vermont.
A graduate of Chicago’s DePaul University with a bachelor’s degree in Telecommunications, Weicher is a member of Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT) and received the Greater Chicago chapter’s Breaking the Mold and Mentoring awards. She is also a graduate of WICT’s Betsy Magness Leadership Institute and Comcast’s Field Executive Boot Camp.
Weicher and her husband are the proud parents of two children and enjoy spoiling their two Australian terriers and traveling. She is based in the company’s Enfield, Connecticut call center and lives in Hartford, Connecticut.
Peter Serbegis, ESPN Radio Affiliate Relations- Regional Manager, ESPN
Peter Serbegis, Regional Manager, ESPN Radio Affiliate Sales & Marketing, oversees terrestrial affiliate distribution and support for ESPN Radio and ESPN Deportes Radio. These responsibilities include sustaining radio affiliations throughout assigned markets, developing and maintaining relationships with current and new affiliates, and ensuring accurate affiliate contract compliance.
Peter began his ESPN career as intern in Affiliate Sales and Marketing for Disney & ESPN Media Networks and upon graduation was hired as a Sales Coordinator for Disney & ESPN Media Networks in 2008. Peter transitioned to the Affiliate Business Operations department in April 2012 and was promoted to his current role in March 2014.
Peter is a 2007 graduate of Northeastern University with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism.
Adwoa Dadzie, Vice President of Human Resources, Comcast
Adwoa Dadzie serves as Vice President of Human Resources for Comcast’s Western New England Region. In this role, Dadzie is responsible for strategically executing all aspects of the human resources function throughout the region, which serves customers in more than 300 communities in Connecticut, western Massachusetts, western New Hampshire, Vermont and New York. She and her team support more than 1,700 employees with the goal of helping the business achieve financial targets, build a culture of employee commitment and drive business growth.
Adwoa earned her BS in Psychology from Trinity College and her Master’s degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from New York University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. She resides in New Haven, CT and in her free time she enjoys listening to music, reading, painting and working out.